Since the inception of automated test systems or automated test equipment, engineers have struggled with the dilemma of delivering a cost effective solution to provide optimum testing of electronic equipment. Throughout the endeavor, various systems have been put together which have an important common system, the Test Program Set (TPS). The common system or end application includes software (application test software), hardware and documentation relating to the operation of the hardware and software.
There have similarly been embodied in these systems a number of test standards, test methods and philosophies, test tools and the like, developed to deliver more cost effective solutions for single and multiple user environments. Early versions were typically company proprietary and often, no standard existed to guide interoperability of different products. Today's solutions leverage commercial technology and standards through the use of what is often termed open architecture. This is beneficial from the interoperability standpoint, but alone will not likely provide a cost effective solution.
A particular problem of using commercial technology and standards is the tendency or possibility for a single entity, usually the most deep-pocketed entity, to influence the commercial world in their favor. This typically causes the promise of cost savings, expected to be achieved using a commercial standard, to be eroded due to significant single entity influence. The initiation of a commercial standard through professional organizations such as the IEEE can take far too long and consequently, a technology can be obsolete before a use standard is complete.
Each end application test software system is developed for and on a respective test system and follows a specified method. The system of software, hardware and documentation the end application executes on, and is therefore supported by, is most notably referred to as an Automatic Test System (ATS). Depending on the end user, it is also commonly referred to as Automatic Test Equipment (ATE). For the purpose of the invention and this discussion, the term used will be GPATE, which stands for “general purpose automatic test equipment”.
The test program set is a function embodied within both test station system software which is inclusive of test integration and development tools and the end item application software or automatic test program sets developed and integrated which execute or run as a function of the software utilizing integrated test equipment or instrumentation known as a family of testers which operates as scalable and reconfigurable GPATE.
The commercial and governmental sectors are similar competitive forces both fundamentally seeking cost effective GPATE solutions and the invention delivers elements of cost effectiveness most advantageous to each. Consider the typical governmental product life cycle and maintenance repair cycles are far longer than those in the commercial industry. Through this invention, the long term user benefits primarily on the protection of the investment in test and repair capability and will achieve a lower total cost of ownership for their extended product life cycles. The short term user benefit is, in the near real time, the adaptabilities the invention provides through component reuse and the natural extensibility of the system of systems.
Governmental entities exert tremendous leverage and thus directly influence the commercial world of GPATE. There exists a directive for the U.S. government to purchase DOD sponsored NxTest products or Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) parts where available in theory because it is more competitive. This often causes ineffectual or outdated commercial standards to be prematurely introduced and inappropriately applied to test systems. This is not typically done out of technical naivety but rather to gain a competitive edge or win points in a competition for contracts and set up a buyer-beware type of dilemma for purchasers. This invention alleviates the negative effects of this phenomenon.
A second ineffectual practice is that each time a governmental entity releases a contract it purchases similar documents and controls pertinent but not very different from previous ones. This adds short and long term costs unnecessarily. Most importantly, it precludes the governmental entity from considering or establishing long term sustainment standards and practices appropriately and therefore lacks them. This is not recognized by any entity probably due to high personnel turn-over in key positions.
As discussed fully below, this is achieved by the invention through the adaptation of standards and adherence to natural technology boundaries within the system divisions. The ultimate isolation of the work value is least impacted when the end application software is independent of the ATS. Standards are often not completely adopted by all companies involved in the field in which the standard is applicable. Most companies only adopt what suits their immediate needs and rarely evaluate the long term impacts properly.
Ultimately, both the GPATE system and TPS system support the structured test sequences and diagnostic rational developed by the test engineer to achieve their goal. Traditionally, during this process, for each system of the software, hardware and documentation (hereinafter referred to as a “system of subsystems”), the subsystems are fundamentally tied together as a unified body of work, i.e., the “system”. In traditional, competitive systems, the body of work is not itself a system within a larger system but rather a system on top of or existing simultaneous with a larger system.
In order to deliver the most cost effective solution in the long term, namely continuous transparent obsolescence, each unified body of work needs to be protected from obsolescence.
Also, although it might be thought that it would be obvious to protect each unified body of work from obsolescence, there is no known current system of subsystems which provides this capability. One reason this has not been achieved is because system integrators are lulled away from their standards by the promise of new technology or out of fear of missing the next best thing rather than figuring out how the next best thing fits into what they do. Thus, when new technology is available, the “old” technology is often discarded entirely without any attempt to integrate the new technology into the old, existing system so that at least part of the old system might be salvaged and used further.
Accordingly, the invention seeks to adopt what is reusable and can be replenished via multiple sources or can be duplicated in-house within the confines of the ATS and TPS boundaries.